Posted
by
samzenpus
on Thursday April 10, 2014 @01:57AM
from the cooling-it-down dept.

itwbennett (1594911) writes "Intel and SGI have built a proof-of-concept supercomputer that's kept cool using a fluid developed by 3M called Novec that is already used in fire suppression systems. The technology, which could replace fans and eliminate the need to use tons of municipal water to cool data centers, has the potential to slash data-center energy bills by more than 90 percent, said Michael Patterson, senior power and thermal architect at Intel. But there are several challenges, including the need to design new motherboards and servers."

Their fluid is boiling, phase transition takes a lot of heat out without pumping anything.
If not, you need to pump fluid between boards, this require more space and energy, even more with a thicker fluid.